The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament revolutionized how we read the New Testament by applying discourse markers to the Greek text. Now, Steve Runge's Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction to Discourse Features for Teaching and Exegesis offers readers a book-length treatment of discourse linguistics and how it can be applied to New Testament exegesis and interpretation.
In Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Steve Runge introduces a function-based approach to language, and seeks to describe grammatical conventions based upon the discourse functions they accomplish. This volume does not reinvent previous grammars or supplant previous work on the New Testament. Instead, Runge reviews, clarifies, and provides a unified description of each of the discourse features. That makes it useful for beginning Greek students, pastors, and teachers, as well as for advanced New Testament scholars looking for a volume which synthesizes the varied sub-disciplines of New Testament discourse analysis.
The approach in Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament is cross-linguistic. Runge looks at how all languages operate before he focuses on Greek. He examines linguistics in general to simplify the analytical process and explain how and why we communicate as we do, leading to a more accurate description of the Greek text. The approach is also function-based—meaning that Runge gives primary attention to describing the tasks accomplished by each discourse feature.
Each of the 18 chapters contains:
- An introduction and overview for each discourse function
- A conventional explanation of that function in easy-to-understand language
- A complete discourse explanation
- A section of application
- Numerous examples of how that particular discourse function is used in the Greek New Testament
- Dozens of examples, taken straight from the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament
- Careful research, with citation to both Greek grammars and linguistic literature, with links to those resources in your library
- Suggested reading list for continued learning and additional research.
Praise for Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament
Steven Runge has made a valuable contribution to the revolution [in discourse linguistics] by his insightful analysis of each New Testament book in his Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament. Now he has taken the next step and provided a theoretical base for his applications in Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament. . . . I commend his pioneering work for serious consideration by all New Testament students and scholars. . . . I have always been interested in any type of analysis that will help me understand the New Testament better. Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament has helped me to do just that.
—William Varner, Professor of Greek Exegesis, The Masters College
The Runge grammar takes the discourse tools used to study the Greek New Testament and makes them useful and understandable for those students who have never had the opportunity to study these areas. Linguistic/discourse studies have moved at great speed over the past couple of decades and non-specialists have been left behind in trying to understand these studies, much less apply them to the Greek New Testament. Steve Runge's grammar makes the concepts simple enough that students, even those who have forgotten much of their Greek, can see clear and obvious benefits as a result of the study of Runge's work. Quite simply, there is nothing else like it. Runge's grammar is the tool for the beginning student in discourse studies of the Greek New Testament. Logos has done the Greek student a wonderful favor by making this work available. It should not be missed. It is like no other grammar that is available today.
—Samuel Lamerson, Associate Professor of New Testament, Knox Seminary
Understanding the Patterns of Language
In this volume, Runge’s approach has less to do with the specifics of a particular language—Greek or English, for example—and more to do with how humans are wired to process language. We constantly make choices about how and what to communicate, and the choices we make have meanings associated with them.
While languages have their differences, they all have a common set of tasks to be accomplished. The choices follow patterns. When we choose to break the pattern, or follow the pattern differently, our reasons for doing so can powerfully communicate meaning.
What choices are implicit in the text of the New Testament? By choosing to say or write one thing—a particular word, tense, voice, mood, and so on—the New Testament writers have implicitly decided not to say or write another. There is some meaning associated not only with the decision to say or write something, but also with the decision not to say or write something. These patterns—or discourse functions—reveal a great deal about what the text of the New Testament communicates. This text fills a large gap in New Testament scholarship because it explains not just the “what,” but also the “why.”
Some of the Discourse Devices Covered:
Forward Pointing Devices
- Point-Counterpoint Sets, such as μέν, ἀλλά, and others
- Meta-Comments
- Historical Present
- Redundant Quotative Frames
- Tail-Head Linkage
Information Structuring Devices
- Framing Devices
- Circumstantial Frames
- Left-dislocations
Thematic Highlighting Devices
- Overspecification and Right-Dislocation
- Thematic Addition
- Changed Reference and Thematic Address
- Near/Far Distinction
About the Author
Steve Runge has a Master of Theological Studies degree in Biblical Languages from Trinity Western Seminary in Langley, B.C., Canada, a BA in Speech Communication from Western Washington University, and a Doctor of Literature degree in Biblical Languages from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, which was supervised by Christo Van der Merwe. In preparation for his doctoral research, Steve completed several years of study in the linguistic fields of pragmatics and discourse grammar. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at Northwest Baptist Theological College, Trinity Western University, and Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS) while completing his education. He is also very active in the church. He and his wife were married in 1990. They have two daughters, and live in Bellingham, Washington. Steve presently serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at Logos Bible Software, and where, along with this volume, he has developed the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament and the Lexham High Definition New Testament.
View Steve’s CV |
Additional Information
- Title: Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction to Discourse Features for Teaching and Exegesis
- Author: Steve Runge
- Logos Research Systems, Inc. 2008
- Nearly 300 pages
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